Slack-adjuster.



W. H. SAUVAGE.

SLACK ADJUSTER.

APPLICATION FILED 1AN.25. 1916.

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WJHS a Patented May 29, 1917.

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T I I l I I n l x I l I UNITED STATE @FFTQE.

WILLIAM H. SAUVAGE, OF FLUSHING, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR T0 GOULD COUPLER COMPANY, A CORPORATION 031" NEVJ YORK.

SLACK-ADJUSTER.

Specification of Letters Eatent.

Patented May 29, 1917.

AppIication filed January 25, 1916. Serial No. 74-,181.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM H. SAUVAGE, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Flushing, Long Island, in the county of Queens and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Slack-Adjusters, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to slack adjusters for the brake rigging of railway cars, and in its more intense aspect to automatic slack adjusters particularly adapted for use on maximum traction trucks.

One of the objects of the present invention is to provide an automatic slack adjuster which will be simple and practical in construction. A further object is to provide a slack adjuster of the above general character which may be easily and quickly applied to truck now in general use and which will be reliable and eflicient in use and operation.

A further object is to provide a mechanism of the first above mentioned character having few parts which will be cheap to manufacture and install.

Other objects will be in part obvious from the annexed drawings and in part indicated in connection therewith by the following analysis of this invention.

This invention accordingly consists in the features of construction, combination of parts and in the unique relations of the members and in the. relative proportioning and disposition thereof, all as more completely outlined herein.

To enable others skilled in the art so fully to comprehend the underlying features thereof that they may embody the same by the numerous modifications in structure and relation contemplated by this invention, drawings depicting a preferred form have been annexed as a part of'this disclosure, and in such drawings, like characters of reference denote corresponding parts throughout all the views, in which Figure 1 is a side elevational view, partly in section, showing such parts of a truck and associated brake rigging as are necessary to fully understand the present imven tion.

Fig. 2 is a detail view of certain parts.

Fig. 8 is a detail sectional plan view of the permanent holding mechanism.

Fig. 4 is a detail view of a part of the temporary holding mechanism.

Referring now to the drawing in detail and more particularly to Fig. 1, 5 denotes a truck bolster intermediate the side frame 6 as shown in dotted lines of a maximum traction truck frequently employed in low hung suburban or street cars. At one side of the bolster 5 is a relatively fixed support to which is pivotally connected the upper end of a hanger 8, the lower end being provided with a brake shoe head 10 carrying the usual brake shoe adapted to coact with the periphery of the adjacent wheel as shown. At the opposite side of the bolster is a second relatively fixed support 11 carrying a duplex hanger 12 provided with a brake shoe head at its lower end, as shown in Fig. 1. These hangers are preferably placed in pairs at each side of the truck and lie substantially in the plane of the wheels and for convenience only one pair will be considered.

A live lever 13 is associated with the hanger 12 and is connected at its upper end to an equalizer bar 14 which in turn is connected near its middle with the brake actuating mechanism. The live lever is provided with a pivotally connected bar 15 passing through a fixed guide 16 and provided with a spiral spring 17 adapted to aid in returning the parts to normal position.

In order to maintain predetermined piston travel of the brake actuating mechanism, uniform brake shoe clearance at all times, and a general adjustment of the brake rigging, there is provided an automatic slack adjuster mechanism intermediate the hangers 8 and 12. This mechanism comprises an adjusting rod 20 and a permanent take up and holding device 21. The adjusting rod is preferably a flat L-shaped member provided with a lost motion slot 22 at one end through which passes a pivot pin 23 securing the brake shoe head to its live lever and hanger. The opposite end of this adjusting rod 20 is provided with a relatively long slot 24 through which passes a spring actuated yielding friction clamp device 25 secured to the barrel of the two-part telescopic push rod 21.

This push rod comprises two members, that is, the casing or barrel 21 pivotally secured to the lower end of the hanger 8 and the push rod 26 similarly secured to the lower end of the live lever. The barrel member 21 is provided with a housing 27 within which are one or more dogs 28 normally held in canted position as shown in dotted lines, by means of a spiral spring 30 coiled about the rod 26. These dogs are rectangular in shape and have openings therein of a shape corresponding to the shape of the cross section of the rod 26 only slightly larger in one dimension. The edges of the openings or holes are case hardened to more effectively bite into the rod 26 with which they coact. It is, of course, to be understood that any form of permanent take up and holding mechanism adapted to coact between the effective ends of the parts 21 and 26 may be substituted for the dogs if it is desired, although it is believed that this type of mechanism has certain advantages, due largely to the accuracy of adjustment. Likewise the temporary take up and holding means 25 may be copstructed in several different ways adapted to permit a yielding movement of the adjusting rod 20 with respect to the barrel member 21 in either direction under certain conditions but normally adapted to slip in one direction only.

The device may be operated in substantially the following manner: On application of the brakes the power is transmitted through the equalizer bar 1a to the live levers 13 at each side of the truck which carry the brake shoes associated therewith into contact with the peripheries of the adjacent wheels. Reaction of course takes place through the telescopic push rod at the lower end of the live lever to perform a similar function upon the brake shoes associated with the hangers 8.

Now if excess travel takes place, due primarily to the wear of the brake shoes, exceeding the lost motion provided for by the slot 22, the adjusting rod 20 will be moved relatively with respect to the barrel member 21a corresponding amount, that is the friction clamp is of suflicientdegree to permit this sliding movement. When the braking power is released the brake shoes first drop away from the wheels as provided for by the lost motion slot 22 and as the return spring 17 continues to act the point 23 being held against movement by reason of the friction clamp 25, this point becomes a fulcrum about which the live lever turns, adapted to cause a lengthening of the telescopic push rod 21-26. It is, of course, to be understood that the member 26 is free to slip in one direction with respect to the dogs 28, but that these dogs will bite into the rod and positively prevent an inward movement thereof with respect to the barrel member 21 when the brakes are applied. In this manner the slack due to the wear of the parts is progressively taken up from time to time.

When it is required to put on new brake shoes, the dogs 28 within the housing are released in any desired manner. The housing is preferably open on its under side and the dogs may be moved into a position normal to the axis of the rod 26 and then by inserting a-bar between the periphery of the wheel and the brake shoe, the latter may be forced back a sufficient distance to permit the replacement of the worn shoes.

It will thus be seen that the present invention provides a simple and practical slack adjuster mechanism particularly adapted .for use on maximum traction trucks having few parts which are relatively inexpensive to manufacture and install. In short the invention is believed to accomplish, among others, all of the objects and advantages set forth.

l/Vithout further analysis, the foregoing will so fully reveal the gist of this invention that others can by applying current knowledge readily adapt it for various applications without omitting certain features that, from the standpoint of the prior art, fairly constitute essential.characteristics of the generic or specific aspects of this invention, and therefore such adaptations should and are intended to be comprehended within the meaning and range of equivalency of the following claims.

I claim:

1. In a slack adjuster, in combination, a pair of brake shoe hangers, a live lever connected with one of the hangers and automatic slack adjusting means between one of the hangers and the live lever and the other hanger.

2. In a slack adjuster, in combination, a pair of brake shoe hangers, a live lever associated with one of the hangers, a telescopic member interposed between the live lever and one of the hangers and an adjusting rod adapted to actuate the telescopic member interposed between said member and the other hanger.

if In a slack adjuster, in combination, a pair of hangers supported from relatively fixed parts of the truck, brake shoes carried by said hangers, a live lever, an adusting means between said hangers comprising a relatively fiat adjusting rod, and a two-part telescopic member, said rod bein provided with slots at its ends adapted to temporarily take up the excess travel and also provide for brake shoe clearance.

1. In a slack adjuster, in combination, a pair of hangers, brake shoes carried by said hangers, a live lever, and temporary and permanent take up and holding devices interposed between said hangers, said mechanism comprising a relatively fiat adjusting rod, and a two-part telescopic push rod, said adjusting rod being connected at one end adjacent the live lever and its associated brake shoe and at its other end with one of the parts of said telescopic member.

5. In a slack adjuster, in combination, a

pair of hangers, brake shoes carried by said hangers, a live lever, and temporary and permanent take up and holding devices interposed between said hangers, said devices comprising a relatively fiat adjusting rod, a yielding friction device associated therewith and a telescopic push rod, said adjusting rod being intermediate the live lever and one of the parts of said telescopic member, and a return spring associated with said live lever.

6. In a slack adjuster, in combination, a pair of hangers, brake shoes carried by said hangers, a live lever, and temporary and permanent take up and holding devices interposed between said hangers, said mechanism comprising an adjusting rod and a telescopic push rod, said adjusting rod lying between the live lever and one of the parts of said telescopic member, a link pivotally connected with the upper end of said live lever passing through a fixed guide, and a spring coacting between said fixed guide and said lever adapted to return the parts to normal position on release of the brakes.

7. In a slack adjuster, in combination, a truck bolster provided with side frames, a pair of hangers at each side of the bolster and at opposite sides of the truck, brake shoe heads carried by said hangers, live levers associated with each pair at opposite sides of the truck, an equalizer bar connecting said live levers, return spring means adapted to restore the parts to normal position, and permanent take up and holding means interposed between one hanger and one live lever at each side of the truck.

8. In a slack adjuster, in combination, a truck provided with side frames, a pair of hangers at each side of the bolster and at opposite sides of the truck, brake shoe heads carried by said hangers, live levers associated with each pair at opposite sides of the truck, a bar connecting said live levers, re turn spring means adapted to restore the parts to normal position, and permanent take up and holding means interposed between the pairs of hangers at each side of the truck, said means including a two-part telescopic push rod with holding means operating between the eflective ends thereof.

9, In a slack adjuster, in combination, a truck provided with side frames, a pair of hangers at each side of the center and at opposite sides of the truck, brake shoe heads carried by said hangers, live levers associated with each pair at opposite sides of the truck, an equalizer bar connecting said live levers, return spring means adapted to restore the parts to normal position, permanent take up and holding means interposed between the pairs of hangers at each side of the truck, including a two-part telescopic push rod with holding means operating between the eiiective ends thereof, and a relatively flat L-shaped adjusting rod coacting with one of the hangers at each side of the truck and one of the parts of the two- -part telescopic push rod.

Signed at New York in the county of New York and State of New York this 16th day of December A. D. 1915.

WILLIAM H. SAUVAGE.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G. 

